Even before the 2024 presidential election, Erica Hellerstein was thinking about all the potential ways it could affect her and her colleagues’ ability to report.

Hellerstein works for El Tímpano as a senior labor and economics reporter, and in recent months began covering immigration as well. Launched in 2018 and named after the Spanish word for “eardrum,” El Tímpano is a news outlet that aims to inform, engage and amplify the stories of the Latino and Mayan immigrants of California’s Bay Area.

As soon as the election outcome was clear, the chatter and questions intensified among the community covered by El Tímpano — especially given that President Donald Trump was elected on a promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants. What could this mean for them?

“We became very concerned with what the election might mean for the people in our community, some of whom are undocumented immigrants and who we really rely on to fuel our reporting,” said Heather Tirado Gilligan, managing editor of El Tímpano. “We felt like it was more important than ever to be able to tell their stories, but we also wanted to do it in a way where we felt like we were keeping them safe.”

Tirado Gilligan said the staff wanted to be prepared. That preparation and desire to try to keep sources safe fueled the creation of what the El Tímpano staff call its source protection guidelines. Launched last month, the guidelines have three components: source protection and informed consent, limited identification policy and enhanced in-person engagement.

Source protection and informed consent

There are risks and benefits to speaking with a journalist. Tirado Gilligan, who led the research and writing of the guidelines, said the first facet of the guidelines entails talking to sources and making sure they understand that. She stressed the importance of informing the source of what El Tímpano is, what kind of work they do, and details about the particular story that’s being reported.

Part of that informed consent is also explaining that, while El Tímpano will do the utmost to protect sensitive information shared with them, reporters cannot guarantee 100% that everything that comes out of a printed story will be good for sources.

“And so we just want to make them aware that there is somewhat of an element of risk when you’re talking to journalists, sharing information that could be sensitive when you’re part of a vulnerable population,” she said.

El Tímpano has begun using cards created by Define American that explain what one needs to know when talking to journalists.

Hellerstein has thought a lot about the informed consent policy and how it applies to her own work. In covering agriculture, for example, she may cover something occurring on a farm and speak with sources who are less familiar with the media ecosystem in the United States. “I think a lot of times it’s also important to explain what it is that we do, and where the story will go, and what it means for them,” Hellerstein said. “Because people are sometimes coming from completely different contexts where they don’t really know what the whole digital media ecosystem in the US even is.”

Another notable aspect of this guideline is reinforcing to sources that journalists are not figures of authority. People can decide whether or not to talk to one.

Limited identification policy

El Tímpano will begin identifying sources who are not public figures by first name and last initial, age and city of residence. Tirado Gilligan said that is now their default policy.

“If we don’t need more information than that, like, say if we’re just doing a vox pop (a video made up of clips of interviews with members of the public), for instance, we’re not going to collect more information than that,” she said.

Asked about collecting a source’s contact information in cases of a follow-up story, Tirado Gilligan said it depends on whether the person is fine with participating in a follow-up, and whether there’s an actual subsequent story.

“But again, it’s not just an automatic ‘I spoke to you, so I need to record this certain amount of information,’” she said. “We’re really trying to be careful in what we’re asking people for in the first place, because again there’s always that element of risk — despite what we do to minimize.”

Madeleine Bair, founder of El Tímpano, said that, first and foremost, the team wants to make sure that the immigrants who are at the heart of El Tímpano’s journalism feel comfortable, safe, and that they can trust El Tímpano when telling their story.

“Oftentimes it is the fear of repercussions that keeps people from telling their stories. Well before the Trump administration, immigrants have been vulnerable,” Bair said. “People’s immigration status or even language barriers have been used against them by people who seek to exploit or abuse them — whether those are landlords or employers or abusive partners.

“We want to make sure that people feel comfortable telling their stories with us. And if that means that we are providing a sense of anonymity to secure their identity so that they don’t have to fear repercussion, then it’s worth it for us.”

For the staff of El Tímpano, Bair added, it’s more important that people have that sense of security and trust in the organization.

Enhanced in-person engagement

El Tímpano has historically relied on text messaging to share its news. In 2021, it won a Gather Award for Engaged Journalism for its work surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Tirado Gilligan said that, during the pandemic, the outlet texted out news that people needed to know to protect themselves.

“We describe ourselves as community-powered journalism, and that was our primary mode of interacting with our community, was through the SMS,” she said.

Tirado Gilligan said the team anticipated that people would be less likely to engage with El Tímpano over text once harsher anti-immigrant policies were enacted with the incoming Trump administration. The outlet is making a more concerted effort to meet people where they are. Last weekend, they held a listening session, where staff invited community members to meet with them in person and tell them what’s on their minds. The event was held in a closed environment.

Hellerstein said the listening post allowed staff to talk to people about the work El Tímpano does, and the new guidelines.

“I think letting members of the community know, ‘This is how we’re thinking about our work, and the security of our sources in these communities are paramount to us,’ I think, is helping to establish and build our credibility,” she said. “And so that’s a process.”

In her experience as a reporter, Hellerstein said just doing her job is getting harder because of growing concerns from sources. She’s been prioritizing putting a face to her name and just physically meeting people where they are. “I think everybody’s feeling unsure of how and if they want to engage with the media, to be honest. Just being a literal, physical presence, for me, is really important. And keeping at the center of it these protocols that we have in place.”

According to Bair, these new guidelines reflect a value that is fundamental to El Tímpano: developing and maintaining the trust of the communities that they serve.

“The only thing that has really changed is the atmosphere and environment in which we and immigrant communities are operating in — in which unfortunately there is just so much more political violence,” Bair said. “There’s online doxing. There are threats and targeted attacks, and policy attacks on immigrant communities.”